Summary:
There are several types of lawsuits that can fall into the larger category of personal injury claims. They are similar to one another in that they often have the same statute of limitations, and the objective is to recover compensation for harm and damages.
There are differences in these claims, too, though.
Personal injury claims can stem from car and motorcycle accidents, slip and fall accidents, pedestrian accidents, and also product liability.
A product liability claim arises from a situation where a product itself causes an injury or even a death.
When you file a lawsuit after you’ve suffered injuries, you may receive compensation for your medical expenses as well as things like pain and suffering and lost wages.
Below is more information about product liability lawsuits specifically.
The underlying premise of a product liability lawsuit is that product manufacturers, as well as designers and other parties within the distribution chain, have both a legal and moral responsibility to their customers to make sure they provide a safe product.
If a customer is hurt or even killed by a defective product, manufacturers, designers, and other responsible parties might be held responsible or liable for their injuries.
Product liability cases can involve consumer products, defective vehicle parts, defective drugs or medical products, or cases where the issue came from inadequate safety or usage instructions.
The law requires that a product adheres to the customer’s general expectations.
There’s not any general federal law guiding product liability law, and typically these cases are based on state laws.
Most product liability claims fall into the category of strict liability law.
With strict liability law, you don’t have to prove negligence.
Instead, you have to prove three things. You have to show the product that injured you was either sold with a defect or didn’t have a warning label that it should have had.
The second thing to prove in strict liability claims is that the manufacturer meant for the product to be sold without it being changed.
Then you have to show you were hurt or your property was damaged by the problematic product.
There are also product liability claims that are based on negligence, although they’re less common. To show negligence by a manufacturer, you have to first prove that they owed you a duty of reasonable care.
You then have to show the manufacturer breached that duty, and then you have to show that breach led to your injury. You also have to demonstrate proof of your injury.
A defective product is one that can’t be used for what it’s meant to be.
There are three defect categories.
There are design defects. A product that has a design defect is exposing you as a consumer to risk, even though you’re using it the right way.
To recover damages with a product that has a design defect, you have to show what the defect is and how it caused you harm. You also have to show you were using it correctly.
The next category is a manufacturing defect. When a manufacturer doesn’t follow the design plans for the product, and it harms a user, it could fall into this category. Specific examples of a manufacturing defect might include making a mistake in how a product is assembled or using the wrong parts.
Then, a third category is a marketing defect.
This means that maybe a product didn’t have the appropriate warnings or instructions with it, and that led to harm.
The following are examples of some of the more well-known product defect cases:
If you were hurt because of a product, you might consider speaking to an attorney about a product liability lawsuit.
You may in these cases and depending on your state be able to recover punitive damages. Punitive damages are awarded to punish defendants in lawsuits for their negligent behavior. Defendants may also have to pay damages for medical expenses. Usually, punitive damages are awarded when the defendant is found guilty of gross negligence or intentionally doing something wrong.